Cooling bed



June 5, 1956 Filed March 29, 1952 M. MORGAN 2,748,635

COOLING BED 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. MYLES MORGAN ATTORNEY M. MORGAN COOLING BED June 5, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 29, 1952 INVENTOR. M YLES MoRG AN BY Z4 ATTORNEY United States Patent 6 COOLING BED Myles Morgan, Worcester, Mass., assignor to Morgan Construction Company, Worcester, Mass.., a corporation of Massachusetts Application March 29, 1952, Serial No. 279,312 Claims. (Cl. 80-42) This invention relates to cooling beds more particularly to an apparatus for moving hot metal flat bars and the like laterally while cooling takes place.

In the art of rolling metals, it is the usual practice after the bars leave the rolling mill to cause them to move longitudinally along a runout table and then to move them laterally and slowly over a cooling bed, which may be of the notched shuflie-bar type. It is also desirable in certain instances to move fiat bars over the cooling bed in stacks or packs in order that the cooling may take place slowly and uniformly. A cooling bed of the notched shuffle-bar type which makes use of pack annealing is shown in the patent to Dahlstrom No. 1,931,405, issued on October 17, 1933. However, the prior art apparatus of this type has suffered from several disadvantages; not the least among these is that no adequate means has been devised to form the packs. The packing means which have been used will not handle a variety of types and sizes of bar, as is necessary, particularly in a modern merchant mill. Also, in previously known pack annealing cooling beds, there has been a tendency for the bars to stick together, so that buckling takes place during cooling. The present invention obviates these and many other difficulties experienced with the apparatus known heretofore.

It is therefore an outstanding object of the present invention to provide a cooling bed of the pack annealing type which may be used with a variety of sizes of bar.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cooling bed of the notched shuffle-bar type which moves the bars laterally in bundles with a minimum of sticking together of adjacent bars.

A further object of the instant invention is the provision of a packing arm mechanism which will permit bars of different sizes to be packed accurately and without danger of failure.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a packing arm having a novel motion for the accurate placement of successive bars on a pack.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a packing arm mechanism which is simple in construction and which is not susceptible to being made inoperative because of heat, scale, or the like.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

Referring to the drawings illustrating one embodiment of the invention and in which like reference numerals indicate like parts,

Figure l is a Vertical sectional view taken transversely of a cooling bed following the teachings of the invention,

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of Figure 1, showing in particular the structure of a packing arm mechanism, and

, Figure 3 is a top view of. the apparatus shown in Figure 2.

For the purposes of this description, the expression transverse when applied to the cooling bed will mean laterally of the direction of the greatest dimension of the bars, longitudinally will mean in the direction of greatest dimension of the bars, forwardly will mean in the direction of lateral movement of the bars, and rearwardly will mean in the opposite direction to the lateral movement of the bars.

Referring first to Figure 1, wherein is best shown the general aspects of the invention, a cooling bed, generally designated by the reference character 10, is shown mounted in association with a hot runout table 11. It is to be realized that the elements shown in this figure are repeated many times along the length of the cooling bed; also, although the cooling bed is shown as being a single discharge cooling bed, it could as well be double. The runout table is provided with the usual rollers 12 driven by a motor 13. A kickoff device 14 is mounted in association with the rollers and is mounted on and actuated by a shaft 15. A fixed rack 16 of the cooling bed is mounted on the foundation 17 of the mill and extends transversely of the row of rollers 12. A movable rack 18 is situated in parallel relation to the stationary rack and is connected at each end to eccentrics 19, 19, so as to be movable bodily in a circular path, all the time maintaining its parallelism with the stationary racks, and performing substantially half of their movement above and the other half below the plane of said stationary racks. The upper edges of the racks are provided with notches, all those of the movable rack 18 having edges inclined at a right angle to each other and symmetrical about a vertical line through the apex; the included angle of the notches in the stationary rack differ somewhat. The first notch 24 of the stationary rack, that is to say, the notch adjacent the roller 12 has a rear edge inclined at 25 degrees to the horizontal, while the forward edge is inclined at 60 degrees to the horizontal, giving an included angle of 95 degrees. The second notch 21 had a rear edge which is inclined at 28 degrees to the horizontal, while the forward edge is inclined at 51 degrees to the horizontal, so that the included angle is 101 degrees. The third notch 22 and all the remaining notches of the stationary rack 16 have a rear edge inclined at 45 degrees to the horizontal and a forward edge inclined at 50 degrees to the horizontal, whereupon the included angle is degrees. The purpose of this arrangement of notch angles will be explained hereinafter. The throw of the eccentrics 19, 19 is such that each notch of the movable rack 18, after coming from beneath into approximate registry with a corresponding notch of the stationary rack 16, is carried upwardly and forwardly and then downwardly into registry with the next notch of the stationary rack. A runoff table 23 or like discharge device is mounted longitudinally of the cooling bed at the ends of the racks opposite to the rollers 12.

Referring next to Figure 2, which is an enlarged view of the packing mechanism, the packing arm 24 is shown in association with the other elements of the cooling bed and hot runout table, which elements are shown in dotted lines for clarity of presentation. The packing arm 24 has an elongated leg 25 and a short leg 26 extending at approximately a right angle thereto. The free end of the leg 26 is provided with a broad head 27 which is generally parallel to the leg 25. The head 27 is 'provided with a bar-contacting member 51 having a straight upper edge which is pivotally fastened to the head at one end and is movable under the action of a bolt 52 at the other end. The angle at which the upper edge of the barcontacting member reaches with respect to the head is, thus, adjustable within limits. An actuating link 28 is fastened at one end to the arm at the intersection of the legs through a pivot bearing 29 and extends downwardly therefrom. The link 28 is madeadjustable by means of a turnbuckle 30. The other end of the link 28 is pivotally attached at a pivot bearing 31 to a crank arm 32 which extends generally horizontally and is keyed at its other end to a shaft 33 which extends throughout the length of the cooling bed and is suitably mounted in fixed bearings, not shown. To the shaft 33 is keyed a crank arm 34 the other end of which is attached to a push rod 35 through the medium of a pivot bearing 36.

The free end of the leg 25 of the packing arm 24 is connected pivotally to the upper end of a generally vertical link 36 by means of a bearing 37. The other end of the link 36 is keyed to a shaft 33 which ads the cm tirelength of the cooling bed and is sui oly mounted in bearings which are supported on a fixed portion of the bed. An elongated link 39 is keyed at one end to the shaft 33 and extends generally downwardly thcr The other end of the link 39 is formed wi h a c shank 40 which is rotatably mounted in a be 41. The extreme end of the shank it) thrc a bolt 5?. is threaded thereon to retain it in the M. The bearing block 41 is of a generally recta. g .111 configuration and is provided with pivot pins 43, 43 which extend laterally therefrom, parallel to the axis of the shaft 38, and spaced from the shank 49 of the link 39. The pins 43, 43 are pivotally retained in bearings 44, 44 on the legs of a clevis 45. The clevis 45 has an elongated shaft 46 extending therefrom which terminates in a turnbuckle 47 and is threaded therein. A clevis 48 is threadedly attached to the other end of the turnbuckle and is pivotally attached to a bracket 4*) for rela tive movement about a vertical axis. The bracket 49 is of the sleeve type and embraces and is firmly fixed to a shaft 59. The shaft Si) extends the length of the cool ing bed, is mounted in fixed bearings, and is provided with means, not shown, for movement in a longitudinal direction, the purpose of such movement being described hereinafter.

The push rod 35 is provided with means for actuating it vertically with a smooth, constant velocity movement in the upward direction, then causing it to remain stationary for a period of time and then returning it to its initial, lower position; this motion is, of course, transmitted to the packing arm. Such a means is shown schematically in Figure l and is connected to the push rod through a bell crank 52. The means 51 may be one of many types which will provide the required motion and its specific construction forms no part of the present invention.

in the operation of the apparatus, the bar leaves the rolling mill and is carried in a longitudinal direction by the rollers 12 which are driven by the motors 13. When the bar has passed along the rollers a sufficient distance, so that it is coextensive with the cooling bed, the kickoff device 14 is actuated through the medium of the shaft 15. This may be done by an operator or, more usually, by an automatic means. The kickoff device moves the bar laterally into the first notch 20 of the stationary rack 26. The bar lies in this notch with its flat surface resting on the rearward edge of the notch. The packing arm 26 moves upwardly under the bar and the upper edge of the bar-contacting member 5t strikes the bar. it then lifts the bar upwardly and forwardly to a position where the inclination of the edge of the barcontacting member to the horizontal is such that the bar slides forwardly, leaves the packing arm, and lands on the rearward edge of the second notch 21 of the stationary rack. The next bar which is moved into the first notch is also carried by the packing arm to a position where it may slide off into the second notch, but because of the presence of the first bar, it must necessarily land on top of the first bar. Each bar, because of its downward and forward motion in entering the notch. comes to rest with its broad surface contacting the bar under it and its forward edge contacting the forward edge of the notch. Eventually a pack of bars accumulates, the pack having an included angle of 101 degrees. Then,

the first notch of the movable rack 18 moves under the second notch of the stationary rack and moves upwardly. It then contacts the pack and lifts it upwardly and forwardly of the second notch in which it had been resid- The fact that the first notch of the movable rack has an included angle of 90 degrees, while the second notch of the stationary rack has arranged the bars of the pack at 101 degrees, means that the bars will slide over one another in adjusting themselves to the new notch. This sliding action will break" the pack it the bars have stuck together due to molten scale or the like. The action will also knock off any loose scale that may be adhering to the bars. The movable rack then deposits the pack in the third notch of the stationary rack as the first notch of the movable rack comes into registry with the said third notch. As the cooling bed mechanism moves the pack laterally forwardly across the bed, it resides alternately in a notch of the movable rack, which notch has an included angle of 90 degrees, and in a notch of the stationary rack, which notch has an included angle of degrees; this causes the pack to change its angularity by the sliding of the bars over one another, with the beneficial results described above.

The means 51 actuates one end of the bell crank 52 and lifts the push rod 35 up and down. The push rod is actuated upwardly at a substantially constant velocity, dwells at the top of its stroke, and then returns to its original, lower position. It acts through the crank arm 34, the shaft 33, the crank arm 31 and the link 28 to actuate the packing arm 26; thus, the movement of the packing arm is exactly similar to that of the push rod 35, except that the amount of displacement at any instant may differ, depending on the relative sizes of the crank arms 32 and 34. The adjustment of the movable member 51 is selected to be such that the bar will slide off into the notch at the proper position of the packing arm; this adjustment may be slightly different under different condition of bar, such as variation in width whereby the friction forces tending to keep the bar on the packing arm are different. The dwell in the motion of the packing arm at the top of the stroke provides for a decrease in the friction force tending to prevent the bar from sliding. When the packing arm is suddenly stopped, the inertia of the bar tends to make it continue its upward motion and this decreases the pressure between the bar and the arm, causing a decrease in friction forces, whereby the bar is enabled to slide from the packing arm. The constant velocity movement of the packing arm assures that the bar will not slide off during the upward movement of the packing arm, as might be true if the velocity were decreased at an intermediate portion of the stroke. This latter condition might take place if the packing arm were subject to harmonic motion. This premature sliding of the bar is quite important when the bar which is being deposited in the second notch of the stationary rack is near the top of the pack which is being formed, because, in that case, the forward edge of the bar might strike the rearward edges of the bars which have already been deposited in the notch. The result, then, would he that the bar would be tipped and take a position in front of the pack at right angles to the other bars. If, on the other hand, the motion were such that the velocity increased considerably toward the top of the stroke, the bar would be thrown upwardly past the top of the stroke of the packing arm and would be out of contact with either the packing arm or the pack of bars already in the notch. The result, then, would be that control would be lost of the bar and its position in landing would be uncontrollable. The optimum situation exists when the bar slides from the packing arm onto the top of the pack and maintains contact at all times with one or the other. It is immediately realized that, if the path of the packing arm relative to the pack is selected for wide bars, when narrow bars are handled that path will be some distance from the rearward edges of the bars in the pack. The optimum situation here is that the path of the packing arm be such that its forward edge just misses the rearward edge of the bars in the pack. In order that the swinging path of the packing arm may be adjustable to provide such an optimum situation irrespective of the width of the bar being handled, means is provided for moving the pivot point of the packing arm forwardly for narrow bars and rearwardly for wide bars. The packing arm is pivoted in the bearing 37 and, thus, movement of the bearing will accomplish the desired result. The operator moves the shaft 50 longitudinally so that the bracket 49 takes the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 3 or some other position depending upon the position of the packing arm pivot that is desired. The clevis 48, the turnbuckle 47, the shaft 46, and the clevis 45 then take the position shown in dotted lines, perhaps at a substantial angle to a transverse line through the cooling bed. The clevis 45 carries the block 41 with it, since they are pivotally connected by pivot pins 43, 43. Since the distance from the bracket 49 to the block 41 must remain the same, with a given adjustment of the turnbuckle 47, the block 41 is carried transversely of the cooling bed, but is constrained to its original longitudinal position relative to the cooling bed because of its attachment to the link 39. The link 39 is keyed to the shaft 38 and is prevented from moving longitudinally of the cooling bed; however, it is free to rotate with the shaft 38 and, so, it is carried to a new position transversely of the cooling bed along with the block 41. These motions are possible because the block is pivotally mounted in the clevis 45 and the link 39 is rotatably mounted in the block whereby a universal joint is obtained. The new position of the link 39 means a new position of rotation of the shaft 38, so that the link 36 assumes a new angular position, in this case, the link 36 will take a position such that the bearing 37 is forward of its original position. Therefore, the packing arm will rotate in a new path closer to the forward edge of the second notch 21 of the stationary rack and will be in a condition to handle narrower bars than before.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A mechanism for use in packing bars, comprising: a packing arm having a bar-contacting member at one end thereof, a first link, a rotatable shaft to which one end of the link is keyed, the end of the packing arm opposite the bar-contacting member being pivotally mounted on the end of the link opposite the shaft, a second link one end of which is keyed to the said shaft, a block in which the other end of the second link is mounted for relative rotation about an axis longitudinal of the said second link, a clevis in which the said block is pivotally mounted for rotation on an axis which is displaced from the said axis of rotation of the second link and which is so related to the said axis of rotation of the second link that the projection of one axis onto a plane in which the other axis lies is at a right angle to the said other axis, a second shaft capable of longitudinal motion relative to the packing arm, the said clevis being pivotally connected to said shaft, the longitudinal motion of the second shaft causing a transverse movement of the pivotal axis of the packing arm.

2. A mechanism for use in packing bars, comprising: a packing arm, a first link, a first shaft capable of rotative movement only, a second link, a block, a clevis, and a second shaft parallel tothe first shaft and capable of longitudinal movement, one end of the packing arm having a bar-contacting member and the other end being pivotally connected to one end of the first link for movement about an axis parallel to the axis of the first shaft, the other end of the first link being keyed to the first shaft, one end of the second link being keyed to the first shaft and the other end being pivotally connected to said block for motion about an axis at right angles to the axis of the first shaft, the block being pivotally mounted to the clevis for movement about an axis which is displaced from the axis of rotation between the block and the second link and which is so related tothe said axis of rotation that the projection of one axis on a plane in which the other axis lies intersects the said other axis at a right angle, the clevis being connected to the second shaft for relative pivotal movement about an axis at a right angle to the axis of the said second shaft, longitudinal movement of the second shaft causing the axis of pivotal movement between the packing arm and the first link to be moved transversely of the first shaft.

3. In a cooling bed for handling flat bars, a packing arm having a bar-contacting member at one end thereof, a crank arm mounted for rotation about a first axis which is longitudinal of the cooling bed, the packing arm being pivotally attached about a second axis to the said crank arm at the end opposite to the bar-contacting member,

I the said second axis being parallel to said first axis, means for rotating the packing arm about the second axis to bring the bar-contacting member into engagement with a bar, and means for rotating the crank arm about the first axis for changing the position of the second axis in a direction transversely of the cooling bed.

4. An apparatus as recited in claim 3, wherein: the said means of rotating the crank arm about the first axis includes an actuating shaft mounted parallel to the first axis and capable of longitudinal motion relative to the cooling bed, but not capable of transverse motion, and means including a universal joint joining the crank arm to the actuating shaft.

5. A cooling bed apparatus for bars comprising a runout table, a kickoff mechanism, a stationary notched rack extending transversely of the runout table, a movable notched rack in generally coextensive relation to said stationary rack, a packing arm associated with said stationary rack, an actuating mechanism connected to said packing arm and moving it to lift a bar from the first notch of said stationary rack adjacent the runout table, the bar having been placed in said first notch by the kickoif mechanism, the mechanism further moving the packing arm to deposit the bar in the next notch of the stationary rack, successive cycles of movement of the packing arm taking place so that a stack of bars is formed in the said next notch, said movable rack transferring the stack of bars from said next notch to another notch on said stationary rack.

6. A cooling bed for bars, comprising a stationary notched rack, a movable notched rack in generally coextensive relation to said stationary rack, a packing arm mounted adjacent the first notch of said stationary rack, and an actuating mechanism connected to the packing arm and moving the said packing arm upwardly from under the said first notch of the stationary rack to lift a bar substantially vertically from the first notch and to carry the bar at a generally constant velocity to a point adjacent a second notch of the stationary rack, the actuating mechanism causing the packing arm to come to a relatively abrupt stop at said point, the surface of the packing arm being inclined to the horizontal at the said point in its motion so that inertia causes the bar to slide therefrom and fall into said second notch.

7. A cooling bed as recited in claim 6, wherein said packing arm is pivotally mounted for movement in a plane parallel to said rack, the packing arm having a head spaced substantially from the pivotal axis, said head having an upper bar-contacting member mounted thereon for angular adjustment relative to the head.

8. A cooling bed as recited in claims 6, wherein said packing arm is mounted on a pivotal axis for movement in a plane parallel to said rack, the pivotal axis being capable of movement transversely of the cooling bed so that the path of movement of the arm may be selected for the lifting of a bar from the first notch and depositing it in the second notch.

9. A cooling bed as recited in claim 6, wherein said packing arm is elongated and has a bar-contacting member at one end thereof, a crank arm is mounted for rotation about an axis which is longitudinal of the bed, the packing arm being pivotally attached at its other end to said crank arm for movement about an axis spaced from and parallel to the first-named axis, and means connected to the crank arm for rotating it about the first named axis to change the position of the secondnamed axis of movement of the packing arm.

10. A cooling bed apparatus for handling bars comprising a runout table, a kickoff mechanism, a stationary notched rack extending transversely of the runout table, a movable notched rack in generally coextensive relation to said stationary rack, a packing arm associated with said stationary rack, and an actuating mechanism connected to said packing arm and moving it to lift successive bars from the first notch of said stationary rack as they are deposited therein by the kickoff mechanism, the actuating mechanism causing the packing arm to lift each bar at a generally constant velocity to a point above and adjacent to the next notch of the stationary rack, the actuating mechanism causing the packing arm to come to a relatively abrupt stop at said point, the surface of the packing arm being inclined in the horizontal at the said point in its motion so that inertia causes the bar to slide therefrom and fall into said next notch, the movable rack moving upwardly after a stack of bars has accumulated in the said next notch and transferring the stack to another notch of the stationary rack.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 18,996 Peterson Nov. 14, 1933 1,448,425 Worthington Mar. 13, 1923 1,536,205 George May 5, 1925 1,689,552 Kastel Oct. 30, 1928 1,931,405 Dahlstrorn Oct. 17, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 474,199 Great Britain Oct. 27, 1937 

